Express Scripts reviews AbbVie, Teva ties to pharmacies

A screen displays the share price for pharmaceutical maker AbbVie on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thomson Reuters Express Scripts Holding Co, the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit manager, is reviewing pharmacy programs run by AbbVie Inc and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd after finding questionable practices at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's partner pharmacy, Philidor Rx Services.

Express Scripts and other big managers of prescription medicine benefits for health plans said on Thursday they would no longer work with Philidor as concerns mount that Philidor was improperly directing drugs made by Valeant to patients.

Valeant has since said it was cutting ties with Pennsylvania-based Philidor, and that the pharmacy was suspending operations.

"We are reviewing and evaluating all similar captive pharmacy arrangements that we know of and will work to identify others," said Brian Henry, a spokesman for Express Scripts. He defined a captive pharmacy as one that derives the vast majority of prescription volume from one manufacturer or one product.